Dangerous Times
by four-some
Summary: Zhane and a monster are attacking Angel Grove while Alpha makes an important discovery. (Please R&R)
1. From Good to Bad

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers at all.

Dangerous Times

By: four-some

The cliff face hung over Carlos's head as he and Cassie attempted to enter a cave at its base. They had been searching for the past two hours for anything that could lead them to Zordan. So far, none of the teams had found anything, but there was still ground to cover. Cassie turned on a high-powered flashlight and shown it towards the entrance as they neared it. The Black Ranger stepped inside first and looked over the walls. Water dripped down the green covered rock as they went deeper into the cave. 

Beeping signaled them to turn on their communicators. "Cassie," the Pink Ranger said into the device. 

"I'm just checking in with all of the teams," Andros's voice returned to her.

"Well, we're exploring a cave for a couple of moments and then we'll continue looking outside," Cassie said. 

"Sounds good. Why don't you meet up with Ashley and T.J. after you get out, then Zhane and I will finish up what we're doing and everyone can head back to the Megaship," Andros suggested.

"I like that," said Carlos and Cassie agreed.

"Good, see you guys in a few. Andros out."

The channel closed and Carlos looked at Cassie with a confused expression. "See you guys in a few," he echoed their leader. "He's has been around us way too much." Cassie laughed and continued to examine the cave.

Meanwhile, Ashley and T.J. were entering a forest where several creatures were running around in little circles trying to catch each other as in a game of tag. The Yellow Ranger couldn't help but watch for a few minutes while T.J. scanned the area for unusual energy readings. "So far so good," the Blue Ranger told his companion. 

She smiled at him and said," That's good, I guess. I mean, any energy could be an evil presence." 

He nodded remembering a resent ambush that the Quantrons had laid for them on another planet that had been exploring. "Still, it would be nice if he was here so we didn't have to look much longer," said T.J.

At that moment, her communicator went off. "What's up?" Ashley asked into it.

"I'm checking up on everyone," Andros said to her.

"That's nice. We haven't found anything, end of story," she said frustrated. 

"Calm down, something will turn up. Listen, Carlos and Cassie are in a cave not too far from you. When they're done with what they're doing, can you meet up with them?" Andros requested.

"Yeah, that will work. What are you up to?" asked Ashley.

"Zhane is swimming in this lake that he says is filled with powerful forces or something like that. I've been trying to get him out, but so far no luck," replied Andros.

"I didn't think Kerovans believed in luck," called T.J. from where he was standing a few feet away.

"We do if it benefits us," Andros said with a smile in his voice. "I need to go. We'll meet you guys back on the Megaship."

"Sounds good," said Ashley and T.J. nodded.

"Great, Andros out." The channel went dead and the Yellow and Blue Rangers went back to work. On the other side of a clearing that separated the forest, rocks and the water area, Zhane was in a small pond while Andros sat on the edge with his feet in the water. 

"I never ever said that there were powerful forces or whatever you said in here," complained Zhane as he swam farther away from his best friend.

"Like I need them knowing about our little break," returned Andros with a smile.

"You have a real problem, you do realize that," said Zhane.

"What are you talking about?" asked Andros as he looked at his best friend for an answer.

"Man, you are one of the best liars I have ever heard. Everyone thinks we're like working on something and you never do," Zhane stated.

"How can I work when you're around?" Andros asked.

"Let's see. You could stop watching me and jump in a search for something useful," said Zhane.

"Okay," Andros said and jumped in without warning. 

Water splashed onto the Silver Ranger who was not really phased by it. "What's that?" he asked when he noticed something on the sand at the bottom of the pool.

"Huh?" asked Andros.

"Those," Zhane said pointing to something shinny. He drove down to pick up whatever they were. Coming back up, he put it in front of his face and looked at Andros.

The Red Ranger shrugged at the objects before him. They were golden orbs handing from a silver chain. "Whoever put them together did not know color scheme," said Andros. Zhane grinned before they started to glow brightly.

The light became so intense that the two Rangers were blinding for a moment before being thrown into the water. It died down and Andros sat up in the waist deep water. "What was that?" he asked.

Zhane stood and turned his back to Andros for a moment. He turned back and Andros breathed in sharply. His best friend's eyes had turned gold.

To be continued…


	2. Strange Events

Zhane stood and turned his back to Andros for a moment. He turned back and Andros breathed in sharply. His best friend's eyes had turned gold.  
  
To be continued.  
  
Chapter two  
  
"Zhane? Are you okay?" Andros asked cautiously.  
  
"Never been better." His voice was not his own. It sounded dark and cold. "Let's go meet the others." Andros reluctantly followed.  
  
Cassie and Carlos were the last to meet up with the team. They approached the rangers out of breath.  
  
"Sorry we're late! But Carlos wanted to pet the rock 'cat,' " Cassie explained.  
  
"Well, it looked like a cat!" said Carlos, defending himself.  
  
"If it had been a cat, it would have bitten and scratched you as you tried to pet it," Ashley teased.  
  
T.J. stood next to Zhane. "Is everything okay, Zhane?"  
  
"Everything is fine." He looked hard at T.J. "Why do you ask?" his dark voice demanded.  
  
"Well, there's something different about you. Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, I'm positive. Now leave me alone." Zhane moved away from the group. A little put off, T.J. also moved.  
  
"So we didn't find any clues to Zordon's whereabouts?" Andros asked. The team shook their heads. "All right then, on to the next planet. Let's get to the Mega ship." Andros beckoned to his team. Everyone obediently followed. Zhane was the last to leave the planet.  
  
As the rangers materialized on the bridge, Alpha greeted them warmly. "Welcome back! Did you find anything?"  
  
"No. But we haven't given up hope yet!" Ashley said energetically. "Right, Zhane?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Zhane looked at her coolly. "We'd better find him soon."  
  
"Zhane, are you okay?" Ashley looked closely at her friend.  
  
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Zhane asked angrily.  
  
"Well, there's something different-" Ashley started.  
  
"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG!!!" Zhane yelled. He stormed out of the bridge.  
  
Later that evening, Andros tried to drag Zhane to dinner, but he wouldn't budge. Andros tried talking to him about his mood. Zhane just had another fit of anger, declaring that everyone was paranoid.  
  
During dinner, Cassie brought up the odd incident of Zhane's outburst. Everyone had been equally shocked.  
  
"I tried to ask him if everything was okay, too," T.J. said. "He had a similar response, although he didn't yell."  
  
"He must have been in a terrible mood," Cassie added.  
  
Ashley was distressed. Zhane was a good friend of hers. She couldn't imagine why he had exploded at her. "I just don't understand. Why would he erupt at me?"  
  
"When I tried to get him to eat with us, he refused. Then, he said we were all paranoid about something being wrong with him." Andros looked at his team grimly. He completely forgot the incident in the lake on the alien planet.  
  
"Let's just hope this strange mood will be gone by morning. Otherwise we may have to talk to him about it," T.J. said. Everyone agreed.  
  
That night, while all the rangers were asleep, Zhane snuck out of his room. As the silver Power Ranger, he ran through the ship heading toward the Mega Ship's engine room.  
  
"Zhane?" Alpha said as he looked around the corridors. The robot continued walking. "Zhane?" The corridor was empty. Suddenly, a dark figure fell on top of Alpha. It was Zhane. He stunned the robot with a blaster and tore the memory chip from his body. "Z..Zh.Zhane.." the android's voice died. Without looking back, Zhane walked away.  
  
The Silver Ranger opened the door to the engine room. He strode in quickly. The ranger accessed a control panel on the wall. Zhane punched in several commands to bring DECA online.  
  
"Hello, Zhane. It's a little late for an engine check, wouldn't you agree?"  
  
"I'm not doing an engine check. In fact, the engines will need lots of attention when I'm done." Without warning, he cut the wires to DECA's visual input.  
  
"Zhane, what are you doing? Do you realize that you're damaging my circuits?"  
  
"Really?" Zhane said with a touch of sarcasm. "Tell me about it. I never knew that cutting wires could damage circuits!" His voice echoed throughout the room.  
  
"If a wire is cut while a computer is running, the data can be lost and circuits will overload. Therefore, to reduce damage, one should always-" DECA's voice stopped abruptly.  
  
"Obviously DECA doesn't understand sarcasm." He then accessed her memory banks and severely damaged the conduits with blaster fire.  
  
Zhane turned his attention to the engines. With swift martial art-like movements, the Silver Ranger struck each engine until they had sustained heavy damage. Quite satisfied, Zhane exited the room. He adjusted the lock so that anyone who attempted to enter would have to supply the new password. "Even Andros won't be able to figure out the entry code," Zhane said smugly. He walked down the hall.  
  
The Silver Ranger blasted a hole in the wall. Before him lay the emptiness in space. He summoned his Silver Cycle and exited the Mega ship. He surveyed the hole in the hull of the ship. To make sure none of his friends were hurt, Zhane applied a shield to protect the interior atmosphere. "Easily repaired," he commented. Then, he flew to the nearest planet, Earth.  
  
A small ship flew around the edge of the Mega Ship. It turned to look at the hole in the side of the vessel.  
  
On the screen of the ship you could see the hole and Zhane in the distance.  
  
"This was a perfect idea," came a voice from behind the shadows of the bridge. "How could I have ever doubted you, Ecliptor?"  
  
To be continued. 


	3. Perfect Plan

Author's Note: I didn't like how the other one went so this is the second attempt. There could be a third at the same chapter, but the review will have to tell me. Some of the things are different and others are the same, but it has changed so please, R&R!  
  
"This idea was perfect," came a voice from behind the shadows of the bridge. "How could I have ever doubted you, Eclipor?" To be continued.  
  
Chapter 3  
Elicpor turned to see his master's cloak. He couldn't smile, but he knew he had pleased his master. Ecliptor's clone waited patiently for his Master to give him new orders. "My Master," he said. "What is it that you want from me?"  
"It is time to unleash my newest plan onto the Power Rangers. Contact Astronema and tell her to meet me on Earth with a monster. We'll will finally defeat them," the cloaked person said and turned away to leave the room through a door.  
Elicpor pushed some controls and Astronema's face appeared on the screen before him. "What do you want!?" she demanded. Her bad mood was credited to the Silver Ranger and the wake up call she was receiving.  
"My master has asked that you meet him on the surface with a monster to destroy the Power Rangers," Elicptor told her.  
Astronema's eyes narrowed into a glare. "You worthless creature, tell your master that I would sooner rot than give him a monster. I simply don't have the time to deal with him when I am working on a assignment for Dark Spectre himself. Don't call again," she commanded and closed the channel.  
Elicpor frowned. That was the last thing he excepted to happen. Now, he would have to go and tell his master want Astronema said. He did not envy Elgar in any way.  
  
*  
  
Andros looked over the reading again. He was convinced they were wrong, but he couldn't be sure. "Hey," Ashley said from the Megalift as she walked up to him. "Have you found anything?"  
He was in the center seat, his usual spot with a very unusual problem. "DECA thinks Zhane did this and Alpha's memory circuits say the same thing," he said with a hint of anger in his voice.  
"That kind of makes sense," she said. "You have to admit, he has been acting very strangely, almost mean."  
"Almost?" he asked. "I would say that was down right mean."  
"So, what do we do about this? I mean, he's not even on board," said Ashley.  
The Red Ranger tilted his head back and ran his fingers through his lose hair. He couldn't stand this. Zhane was missing after almost killing them. DECA didn't stand for the tempering of her systems and Alpha wasn't fully operational yet.  
"First we fix the ship," Andros decided sitting in an upright position. "Then we find Zhane."  
"When I last talked with Carlos, they couldn't get the door to the engine room open. If fact, we shouldn't have power, but all the system seems to be functioning. What's up with that?" Ashley asked looking around the room at all the buzzing equipment.  
"This is a battle ship," stated Andros. "It would be foolish to have just one engine. The bad news is that the only time the secondary engine is functioning is when the primary engine is damaged beyond repair."  
"And when were you going to tell us that there were two engines?" Ashley asked with her hands on her hips.  
"Actually, there is three and I wasn't," he said with a smile and looked at the Viewscreen in a blank stare. "I was hoping that we would never have to us any of the others."  
"Andros, it's okay. We still have to fix the hole in the hull. Cassie is down there now. I'm going to join her. Want to come?" asked Ashley.  
Andros smiled at her and stood up. He took her hand and led her out of the bridge.  
Outside of the engine room door, TJ and Carlos were trying to tap into the main computer security system.  
" Man, Zhane really encrypted these files," TJ exclaimed.  
" Yea! And he said that the "dead" Kerovan language would never come in handy for him. I bet Andros couldn't even get this stuff," Carlos complained.  
" Hey. You just gave me an idea. Andros, Andros, Andros." started TJ as he headed off down the hall.  
" No problem, buddy! Just leave me in the dust. It's hard to think while your doing.NOTHING!!!" yelled Carlos. " Gees! The incompetence I have to work with. Now, back to work. What does Zyzecturs mean?"  
"That information is classified to senior officers only," DECA said.  
Carlos glared up at her. "And who would they be?"  
"That information has been restricted to senior officers only," said DECA.  
"Just great," he said throwing his hands up in the air. "You are the most helpful computer that was ever designed."  
"Thank you, Carlos. However, I do not believe you were completely sincere," DECA said.  
"Glad to hear it. Anything about this you can tell me?" Carlos asked.  
"Not at this time," she answered.  
Carlos wanted to slap her, but that wouldn't help anything. Plus, she wasn't real. That was the worst part. Everything had been programmed. Carlos suddenly got a smile on his face as he ran toward her main interface.  
"DECA, you are about to have a change of heart," he said. Without warning, Carlos began removing wires. Stepping back, he smiled pleased at his work. " What does Zyzecturs mean?" he asked again.  
"You are not a senior officer," she commmented.  
Carlos growled. "However, according to my files, you are a mean old man with an out-of-date hairstyle that has hard feelings towards AI's. And because of your status.. I still cannot tell you." The black Ranger could have sworn he heard the pleasure in her voice.  
"All right, DECA, two can play at this game," he said. Carlos grabbed hold of a blue wire and pulled.  
  
*  
  
Zhane looked around the city from his perch on top of the tallest building in Angel Grove. Everything seemed peaceful and something inside him make him think it was good. The other part of him wanted to ruin the moment. Before each side won, a massive fireball slammed into the street below.  
*Something's wrong,* Zhane told himself, but his body wouldn't listen to his mind. The Silver Ranger jumped 23 stories down to the street and landed without injury.  
"Ah, Silver Ranger," a fire breathing monster said as he saw the Ranger. "Glad to have the help."  
*Help!* Zhane's mind was screaming. *How could I help you?*  
"Anytime," he found his voice saying, but he had no control.  
"Come, let's us destroy the city for our new master," the fire monster said and began to walk away. With no control over himself, Zhane followed.  
  
TBC 


	4. Attacked and Discovery

"Come, let's us destroy the city for our new master," the fire monster said and began to walk away. With no control over himself, Zhane followed.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Chapter 4  
Beep! Beep! The Mega Ship's alarm sounded.  
  
"Hey, someone's attacking Angel Grove," said Ashley. She pushed a button to see the attacker on the main view screen. "Oh my!" Ashley punched several more buttons. She contacted Andros whose face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Hey, Ashley! What's up?" he asked, noticing her worried face.  
  
"Andros, Zhane is attacking Angel Grove," she said quietly. The Red Ranger looked grave.  
  
"Well, duty calls," Andros replied. "Round up the other rangers, Ashley. We're going to Angel Grove."  
  
"But Andros! We can't fight our best friend!" Ashley protested.  
  
"We can if he's attacking innocent people." Andros looked away, and then quietly said, "Let's go."  
  
Five beams of light left the Mega Ship and headed towards the Earth. The Rangers landed on a street in Angel Grove, fully morphed. Screaming people rushed towards them as great balls of fire hit buildings and cars.  
  
"Who's that?" TJ asked, pointing to the fire monster. The monster answered TJ's question arrogantly.  
  
"Ahh, Rangers, how good to see you! I am Flame Thrower, and I'm here to destroy you and Angel Grove!" He laughed maliciously, then continued to blast every building in sight.  
  
"Flame Thrower! If you want to destroy Angel Grove, you'll have to go through us first!" Andros yelled defiantly.  
  
"We'll see about that!" the monster replied. He set a fire at his feet and let it cover him. Suddenly, he grew a hundred times his original size. "Ha ha!" he laughed. "Still want to challenge me?"  
  
"Absolutely!" Andros responded. He nodded to his team.  
  
"We need Astro Megazord power now!" they shouted in unison.  
  
Out in Earth's orbit, the Astro Megaship transformed in to the Astro Rangers Megazord. Flame Thrower began to blast the city with heat and fireballs as the Astro Megazord landed and faced him  
  
"You won't be any match for me and my partner," scoffed the monster and he blew fire breath at the Rangers.  
  
"What partner?" asked Ashley.  
  
"Suddenly, the Megazord's alarm screamed as it was hit in it's back. "HAHA!" laughed the monster as it attacked their front before spinning around and attacking the city.

> > > > > > * * *

"Found it!" cried Alpha 6. The little robot had stayed with the Delta Megaship to research what was wrong with Zhane.  
  
"What did you find?" DECA asked over a ship-to-ship comm. channel.  
  
"One possibility could be the golden orbs of Kalfa," said Alpha. "According to legend, the sorceress Kalfa created 12 golden orbs that gave her power. However, this power came from the Dark side of the morphing gird."  
  
"Which explains why it would be affecting Zhane," interrupted DECA  
  
"Exactly," agreed Alpha. "Normal magic doesn't usually affect the rangers because of their link to the light side of the morphing gird, but because it's from the Dark side, it would consume him."  
  
"It talks about how Kalfa was defeated, but her orbs couldn't be destroyed. So, they were scattered all over the five galaxies never to be spoken of again," Alpha finished reading.  
  
"Andros said that there were only three orbs on the chain," DECA said.  
  
"Yes, but according to this next part, we have a problem. The orbs were designed to link to a power source so someone could manipulate it. But you and I both know that the Dark side has manipulative powers of its own. The Dark side of the grid has taken over his body as it did with Kalfa. The good new is that Zhane's mind is still in tact, just trapped inside his body," said Alpha.  
  
"Then how do we free his mind?" asked DECA.  
  
"I'm not sure yet," whimpered Alpha. "It doesn't' say. But I have one ally I can ask."  
  
TBC


End file.
